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Friday was a strange day for us. We visited the Stray Aid Rescue Centre in Coxhoe to look for a dog to adopt. What we had not really planned on was actually leaving Stray Aid Rescue Centre with a dog on the very same day.
We thought the process of adopting a stray dog would take at least a week, and involve a home visit. But all it took was a few forms to be filled in, and a small fee.
Formalities over with, we introduced Barley to our car. He was happy to jump into the back of our estate car, but because we did not have a dog guard he was also happy to climb over the rear seats to explore, and then also into the front seats. Needless to say this was all done while we were stationary.
With Barley comfortably introduced to the car we set off for home, with Laura and the dog sitting in the rear seats. He was a little frisky, but not too bad, and Laura managed to keep him under control during the 25 minute journey. Barley was interested in everything, intently looking out of the windows as we drove.
Once home we gave Barley some water, and then showed him the rooms in his new home.
When we’d finished showing our new dog the house, we took him on his first walk over to the old Easington Colliery Mine Lift monument. He enjoyed the walk in the country and seemed very relaxed, so instead on going straight back home with him we walked up the High Street (Seaside Lane) to the pet shop to buy him some toys and treats. The people and the traffic did not seem to bother him.
Once back at home Barley settled in and had an enjoyable afternoon destroying two ‘chewable’ toys. Toys that the label specifically stated as ‘strong toys, tough rubber’. Within a few minutes the toys were unrecognisable, so at least we know he has good teeth.
In the early evening we made dinner for Barley, an after his food had gone down, we all went for a long walk, during which we started the process of teaching him to walk well on a lead. He is a Lurcher and likes lurching. This we managed to temper a little after 45 minutes training. It was a full and tiring day for all of us, but also a very rewarding one.
The hardest part of the day for Laura and I, had been trying to come up with a name for him. The Stray Aid Rescue Centre had named him Brogan, a name that we were not very keen on, and one that the dog didn’t respond to either.
We spent a lot of time during our first day trying to think of name for him. Every time I suggested a name, Mrs.R said no. By early evening we had finally settled on Soter. We both liked the name Soter, and thought that was the end of name idea, but it wasn’t.
For some reason Mrs.R just couldn’t remember the name Soter. She often came close with variations, such as sot, and sober, which probably says more about her than the dog name we’d chosen.
Anyway, as it was pretty obvious Mrs.R was never going to call the dog by the same name twice, we decided a new name was the answer. And so it all started over once again. I’d suggest a name and Mrs.R would say no, although she would initially say yes to some of my suggestions, but after a few minutes would say no because of whatever random connotations had popped in to her head about the name.
It wasn’t until just before lunch today that our new rescue dog finally had a permanent name.
I had said I wasn’t going to suggest any more names, and that Mrs.R would name him, but as I stood in the kitchen making lunch, and drinking a beer, a name popped in to my head.
Barley! Well, if it’s good enough for beer, it’s definitely good enough for our new dog.

A short video of Soter destroying a couple of new toys during his first hour in his new home.